Thursday, January 5, 2012

Evotourism: Selective Itineraries

Evotourism

There is something just a little unsettling about trademarking evolution. The involvement of the Smithsonian Institution with a commercial travel arm also seems a touch bizarre. Welcome to the world of EVOTOURISM.

Fittingly, they have 6 classifications: families, history, fossils, urban, adventure and photography. Australia's Kangaroo Island is tagged for History Buffs but really is a must for the image conscious, whilst England's Jurassic Coast rates five tags.

Darwin's Home

Missing from their initial promotion is Down House, Darwin's home and laboratory. It was one of the highlights of our recent U.K. trip.




Secular Cathedral

A place not to be missed is the Natural History Museum - the atheist's secular cathedral where the larger than life statue of the great man sits be-throned atop the stairs.



Debating Our Origins


Another real gem is the  Oxford University Museum of Natural History, which describes itself as a 'cathedral of science'. It's in front of the wonderfully eccentric and eclectic Pitt Rivers Museum collection of archaeology and anthropology.




A dramatic piece of science history was locked behind this door:


The plaque beside the door to the Radcliffe Library of the Oxford MNH reads:


A MEETING OF
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION
HELD 30 JUNE 1860
WITHIN THIS DOOR WAS THE SCENE
OF THE MEMORABLE DEBATE
ON EVOLUTION BETWEEN
SAMUEL WILBERFORCE
BISHOP OF OXFORD AND
THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY


Take a trip with science!

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